Serve the King Delivers Fifth Saratoga Win for Brown
Image:
Description:
Photo: Skip Dickstein
Serve the King rallies under Irad Ortiz Jr. to win the John's Call Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Trainer Chad Brown won one for the proverbial thumb, notching his fifth victory on the card when Peter Brant's Serve the King overtook Ry's the Guy in deep stretch and pressed on for a half-length win in the $120,000 John's Call Stakes at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 25.
The 17th running of the John's Call—a restricted stakes race for 4-year-olds and up at 1 5/8 miles on firm turf—saw Brown extend his meet total to 27, putting him in the top spot among conditioners with 10 race days remaining in the 40-day meet.
Serve the King, under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., broke from the outermost post and stalked in third position as Ry's the Guy led the seven-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in :25.85. Conviction Trade took the lead on the first pass in front of the grandstand, logging a half-mile in :50.92, and maintained the advantage through three-quarters in 1:15.09 and a mile in 1:40.55.
Heading out the final turn, Ortiz tipped Serve the King out, allowing him to take aim at Ry's the Guy. Under right-handed encouragement, Serve the King steadily gained before taking the lead for good in the final sixteenth, completing the course in 2:43.49 for his first win in his last five starts.
"We've been trying to get this horse around three turns since last year and we just didn't have the races available," said Brown, who is aiming for his fourth career Saratoga training title. "He got started a little late last year and by the time we were really ready to start him, it was going to be in the Red Smith (G3T) and he got injured so I had to stop on him. Mr. Brant has just been so patient, he always is with these horses and lets us give them the time and he came back really well this year."
The British-bred Serve the King capitalized on class relief after consecutive fourth-place finishes in the Monmouth Stakes (G3T) June 5 and the United Nations Stakes (G1T) at Monmouth Park July 17. The 5-year-old son of Kingman improved to 4-1-1 in nine starts and increased his career earnings to $196,180.
"I thought this horse should have been second in the United Nations," Brown said. "He got in some trouble around the eighth pole and we thought he should've been second. That went into my decision to bring him up here to Saratoga for a race of this caliber. Even though this isn't the Sword Dancer (G1T), it's still a real race at Saratoga. If I'm going to bring that horse all the way up here off a fourth on paper in the U.N., it better be a good fourth."
Brown said Serve the King could now target the $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1T) Oct. 9 at Belmont Park.
"Domestic Spending might train up to the Breeders' Cup maybe, so that race might be a little bit open for a horse like this," Brown said. "He used this restricted race to really have his coming out party so to speak, so it's time to go back in a real race again. I think that's probably the most logical."
Serve the King was the third consecutive win Brown saddled on the card and fifth overall. Off at 3-1, he was the lone non-favorite winner on the day for the four-time Eclipse Award winner, returning $8.90 on a $2 win wager. Other winners on the day for the trainer were Pocket Square in race 3, Digital Future in race 5, Gandy Dancing in race 7, and Winter Pool in race 8. Ortiz was aboard three of his five winners.
Chad Brown holds up five fingers after Serve the King's win in the John's Call Stakes, the trainer's fifth victory Aug. 25 at Saratoga
"It's one of those things that I put in the pile of highlights of my career so far," Brown said. "Five really diverse winners, too. Long, short, dirt, turf. My team and my horses were able to showcase today. When the weather is right and the horses are there, we can get the job done with any type of horse. It was really on display today."
Ry's the Guy, trained by Ian Wilkes and ridden by Luis Saez, bested Fantasioso by two lengths for second.
Shamrocket , the 5-2 favorite, finished fourth. Ajourneytofreedom , Red Knight , and Conviction Trade completed the order of finish. Moretti , entered for the main track only, scratched.
Serve the King was bought for the equivalent of $361,616 by Brant's White Birch Stable from the Norris Bloodstock consignment to the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. He is one of two stakes winners out of the group 2-placed Galileo mare Fallen In Love . The other stakes scorer is group 3 winner Loving Things .
The dam has three unraced foals, including a 2-year-old colt by Fastnet Rock named Albert. She also foaled an Expert Eye filly this year already named Loves Loving.